Alternative to Lead in car Batteries

[Thecla]

TL;DR

Mid 20th century alternauves to lead in car batteries

ANew york Times had an article about car battery recycling poisoning children and described lead as an essential component of a car battery I knoow inthe 21st century there are new technologies for batteries,but I was wondering if in the 19440s or 1950s, when the dangers of lead were known,were the other metals tha can replace lead. Why is lead so important?

 

[DaveC426913]

What has your research into the question turned up?

Did you try googling "why is lead better than other elements in batteries?" or "what could preplace lead?"

 

[256bits]

The Wiki article is much better than that virtue signaling NY Times article if you want to learn about lead poisoning since antiquity.
The NY Times might have referred to why lead recycling has been transferred to the third world, and why those governments do not have more strict control ensuring their citizens health

TL;DR: Mid 20th century alternauves to lead in car batteries

in the 19440s or 1950s, when the dangers of lead were known

Dangers were known much earlier, when there was no such thing as a car battery, but people still kept using it. Pretty white faces and white powdered wigs amongst the aristocracy led them to be more lead poisoned than the poorer regular folk.
More stringent regulations developed in the 70's when peoples began to be more concerned about the environment and what pollution is doing to the planet and us. ( Western viewpoint )

I am not sure how polluting recycling of lead acid batteries is, in relation to all the other sources of lead from human products, but the recycling plant has the obvious feature that environmental and health problems are localized and can be measured in the surrounding air, soil, the living organisms and cannot be denied.

 

[Mayhem]

If you want large surge currents in a single cell you need fast electron transfer kinetics. Electrically, this means a low internal resistance.

From Wikipedia, the lead-acid design principle is membraneless, meaning that discharge isn't limited by mass transfer kinetics across a membrane (which manifests as internal resistance). The half cell reactions instead both deplete the H2SO4 electrolyte layer, whereby charge balance occurs faster, and manifests a lower initial internal resistance (although it likely increases rapidly during discharge).

Use two different metals, and you would begin getting cross contamination across the electrolyte and lose capacity (in principle at least).

It is also somewhat unique that PbO2 is conductive enough to be used as an electrode, and not just as a deposit on an (inert) electrode (electrical folks feel free to correct me).

I haven't surveyed the periodic table, but I imagine that finding a cheap metal that can do this is rare, nevermind safely.

 

[OmCheeto]

Is there a reason the NYT article was not linked?
Asking for a friend.

Is this it?
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/11/18/world/africa/lead-poisoning-car-battery.html

 

[Borek]

I haven't surveyed the periodic table, but I imagine that finding a cheap metal that can do this is rare, nevermind safely.

This.

It is quite common that possible choices of elements that behave the way we need are very limited and we need to compromise.

 

[Mayhem]

This.

It is quite common that possible choices of elements that behave the way we need are very limited and we need to compromise.

Another excellent example is vanadium in flow batteries.

 

[oz93666]

Well you can't just replace lead with something else ... there are only just so many battery chemistries that function and are rechargeable ... But LiFePO4 batteries are slowly replacing lead acid car batteries , the problem is they can't deliver the high current required to start the engine , so have to be put in parallel with a super capacitor bank .. more expensive but will last 5 times longer than lead acid ... and much lighter (resulting in very slightly reduced fuel consumption) .
But in developing countries where life is cheap , lead acid will be hard to replace because it is easy to recycle and build a new battery cheaply ... many videos of people working in this industry being exposed to highly damaging leavels of lead .